ÿş<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">  <HTML><HEAD><TITLE>Al Jazeera - objective and balanced global news coverage and analysis- Global Reaction</TITLE> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=UTF-16"> <META http-equiv=Content-Type><LINK href="article-civil-disobedience_files/style.css" type=text/css rel=stylesheet> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2722.900" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY leftMargin=0 topMargin=10 rightMargin=0> <DIV align=center xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"> <CENTER> <TABLE style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" borderColor=#111111 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 10px" align=left><IMG src="article-civil-disobedience_files/banner.gif"></TD></TR> <TR> <TD><IMG src="article-civil-disobedience_files/mainheader.jpg"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></CENTER></DIV> <DIV align=center> <CENTER> <TABLE id=AutoNumber2 style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" borderColor=#999999 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=770 border=1> <TBODY> <TR> <TD> <TABLE id=AutoNumber3 style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" borderColor=#111111 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD class=dates id=hDate dir=ltr style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px" width="80%" bgColor=#cccccc></TD> <TD dir=ltr width="20%" bgColor=#cccccc></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <TABLE id=AutoNumber4 style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" borderColor=#111111 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=768 border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD width=565> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD colSpan=2 height=5></TD></TR> <TR> <TD style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px" colSpan=2> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0 xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"> <TBODY> <TR> <TD class=indicationLink2 vAlign=top><A class=indicationLink href="http://www.thememoryhole.org/media/al-jazeera/index.html">Homepage<IMG src="article-civil-disobedience_files/spacer.gif" width=2 border=0></A><IMG src="article-civil-disobedience_files/spacer.gif" width=3 border=0><IMG src="article-civil-disobedience_files/spacer.gif" width=3 border=0>/ <IMG src="article-civil-disobedience_files/spacer.gif" width=2 border=0><A class=indicationLink href="http://www.thememoryhole.org/media/al-jazeera/topics/indexb735.html?cu_no=1&template_id=279&temp_type=42">Global Reaction<IMG src="article-civil-disobedience_files/spacer.gif" width=3 border=0></A>/ </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR> <TR> <TD colSpan=3 height=6></TD></TR> <TR> <TD width=10></TD> <TD><INPUT id=item_cu_no type=hidden value=1 xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"><INPUT id=item_no type=hidden value=498 xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"><INPUT id=version type=hidden value=1 xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"><INPUT id=date1 type=hidden value=25/03/2003 xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"><INPUT id=dateTime type=hidden value=" 6:58PM" xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"><INPUT id=articalText type=hidden value="<FONT size=2>
<P><BR><FONT face=Arial>Across America, tens of thousands of protesters have been mobilising in ways not seen since the days of Vietnam. Coast to coast hundreds of cities have seen demonstrations against the current war in Iraq. </FONT>
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<TD class=imgcaption id=Comment dir=rtl vAlign=top align=middle><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=2>An anti-war demonstrator flashes the peace sign as she and other demonstrators are surrounded by police after their arrest in in downtown San Francisco</FONT> </FONT></TD></TR></TABLE></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial>While some of the protests have been mild and sombre in nature, others, especially in the major cities, have resulted in multiple arrests for civil disobedience.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial>The majority of the arrests have taken place in San Francisco where protesters have done anything in their power to disrupt the normal flow of people and traffic on their way to work. Fire hydrants have been opened, police car windows smashed, and blockades keep both traffic and pedestrians delayed throughout the city.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial>“More than 1,300 people have been arrested so far and we expect the number to rise considerably during the evening,” said Eileen Hirst of the San Francisco Sheriffs Department on Thursday.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial>Assistant Chief Alex Fagen told the New York Times the situation had deteriorated to “absolute anarchy.”</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial>Similar protests were held in cities throughout America.&nbsp;In Chicago, 4,000 demonstrators blocked Lakeshore Highway, a major thoroughfare to downtown Chicago, and in Washington DC police were forced to use pepper spray in order to disperse several hundred activists who had shut off access to a bridge.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial>Brad Simpson a member of the War Resistors League has been organizing and training demonstrators in the ways of civil disobedience around the New York area.&nbsp;He believes that direct action on the part of anti-war protesters will continue to grow for the duration of the war.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial>According to Simpson, while there are no city wide organisations coordinating efforts of civil disobedience, or “non-violent direct action,” there are many autonomous acts being organized by smaller groups of people. His role is to bring these like-minded people together for a coordinated effort.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial>“Over the next few days there are many individuals committed to escalating our resistance to this criminal war,” said Simpson.&nbsp;“That includes non-violent direct action and civil disobedience.”</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial>The use of civil disobedience is cause for debate among the American public. Many are frustrated by the added hassle of getting to and from work. Police in San Francisco have estimated that Thursday’s demonstrations cost the city approximately $500,000.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial>However, even some conservatives are willing to except the acts of civil disobedience as part of the cost of living in the free country they feel the US troops are protecting.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial>“I think people have the liberty and right to protest in the United States, but I don’t agree with their choice of protest,” said Dennis Kruse, an Indiana State Representative.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial>“I do think it (civil disobedience) is a valid form of protest and I might use it myself sometime in my life,” Kruse continued. “I think people do have the right and liberty to use civil disobedience, but they also must remember they must pay the consequences if they do get arrested for breaking the law.” </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial>Simpson explained the acts of civil disobedience as a means to raise attention for the anti-war cause as well as being a symbolic gesture of personal resistance. According to Simpson, the intent in San Francisco last Thursday 19 March was to shut down a large part of the city and make sure that there were none of the feelings of “business as usual” that President Bush has advocated.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial>Kruse argues that during times of war, while it is the right of Americans to protest, it is a good idea to put aside protest and support US troops serving their country abroad.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial>“It is a downer on the morale of the troops,” said Kruse. “If I were a soldier and people were protesting against what I was trying to accomplish, to protect their freedom to protest, I’d be very upset…I don’t think this is anytime to be anti-American in protesting against us when we are actually in battle.”</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial>However, the argument holds little water with Simpson</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial>“I think it’s really disgraceful that people think dissent should be silenced in wartime,” he said. “That is exactly the time when we need to be speaking as loudly as possible. Certainly all of us protesting want the troops to come home safe, but we also want to see Iraqi citizens continue to live.”</FONT></P>
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